Gucchi

Gucchi

Nature has bestowed Kashmir with extraordinary climatic conditions and forest cover, apt for different

mushroom varieties including gucchi (Morchella), an exotic species of the mushroom family. Many describe

it as the ‘cuisine of the royal .After the saffron the Gucchi or kashmiri mashroom is the expensive

item which is used in the cooking.Mushrooms are cosmopolitan heterotrophic organisms that are quite

specific in their nutritional and ecological requirements.

Wild edible mushrooms have been collected and consumed by people since thousands of years. Archaeological

evidences reveal edible species associated with people living 13000 years ago in Chile.Gucchi grows in the

wilderness. Mostly it grows in forests located above 2000 meters from sea level. In Kashmir it is mostly

found in the forest ranges of Anantnag, Kupwara and Kangan, all higher altitude places. In the Jammu region,

gucchi are found in the Doda and Kashtiwar forest ranges.Not only this gucci but there are many more varieties

of kashmiri mashroom.

Gucchi collection is a very cumbersome task. Collectors have to trek hundreds of miles through forests to

identify and then collect the exotic mushroom. Collection also consumes a lot of energy and takes time because

there are hundreds of varieties of wild mushrooms in the forests; identifying gucchi among them is a very

difficult.This is olso one reason why this variety of mashroom is very expensive .